Since the advent of the acousto-optically Q-switched laser, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,725,812 to Warner C. Scott, there has been significant interest in improving such laser. In some applications it is desirable to provide a means of identification for a particular laser, to distinguish its output signal from that of other acousto-optically Q-switched lasers.
Further, as indicated in our co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 424,115 filed Dec. 12, 1973, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference, it is desirable to increase the energy content in a single output pulse as much as possible.
Accordingly, it is a feature of the present invention to modulate the output signal of an acousto-optically Q-switched laser.
It is a further feature of the present invention to provide a means of identification of an acousto-optically Q-switched laser according to resonator length, by demodulation of the output signal.
Further features and advantages of the invention will be apparent to persons skilled in the art, from a consideration of this specification, including the claims and the drawings.